Shooting Stars
by Lady Charity
Summary: Perhaps if Jack taught Rose how to fly a little bit higher, she would be with him again. But it was too late now.


Rose was no longer in the frigid oceans of the Atlantic, but her whole body felt cold. Her heart froze as if it were ice. Rose felt as if she were in a trance, her mind completely wiped out and unthinking, thinking nothing except one person.

Jack.

Her beloved Jack, her laughing Jack, her flying Jack was gone. Gone and sunken with the grand ship that took his life.

Rose immediately felt a surge of hatred and anger towards the Titanic. But no, Titanic was what brought Rose to Jack. She shook her head, pacing across the deck of the Carpathia. She could never, _ever_ hate the Titanic, because it brought the joy of her life, even if it was such a short one. Rose clutched the thin blanket that was draped over her shoulders as a pearly tear slowly trickled down her cheeks. She wanted to jump off the Carpathia, jump back into the ocean and swim to Jack. She didn't want to leave him in the bitter cold of the Atlantic, even though he probably couldn't feel it.

_I was supposed to get off the ship with you, Jack_, Rose thought, closing her eyes and breathing in the cold night air. _We were supposed to live happily ever after, we were supposed to be together forever…_A cascade of tears slid down her pale cheeks.

Her heart seared with pain, it ached so terribly that Rose could barely breath. She clenched her teeth tightly, hoping to somehow blind the agony, only for the excruciating sting to strengthen.

Rose sat down on a bench, craning her neck to the sky. The night sky was inky dark, with vast hues of indigo, cobalt, even the perpetual pitch black. A web of stars was stretched out across the sky like a sparkling haze, the wind affecting the stars to ripple like the sea. Ripple, ripple like the ocean that Jack taught her to fly across. Rose could feel the warm air brush across her face, Jack's gentle hands clasped around hers, his breath whispering into her ear…for a moment, she opened her eyes again and saw the red-blue ocean stretched out before her as she and Jack flew from the stern of the ship. But the image soon faded and all was left was the Carpathia and the ruthless night sky.

Rose could hear the stars chime like crystal bells. No, not the crystal bells that she always crew accustomed to in her wretched past life. It chimed like Jack's wonderful laugh, Jack's harmonious voice that warmed everything that could hear it.

The lump in her throat swelled immensely and she felt as if she were choking on her tears. She gasped for air, only to break down into violent sobs. Rose hugged her knees tight to her chest as her heart w as painfully torn into a million pieces. She felt so small, so helplessly small and pathetic near the never-ending sky.

Suddenly, a stream of bright light flashed across the sky. Rose's eyes widened at the sight of it as she wiped her tears away. A shooting star! It soared from the edge of the horizon and seemed to dance in the middle of the sky. It beautified the heavens with its pearly shimmer and its extraordinary sheen, so similar to the mischievous glint in Jack's eyes.

"So beautiful…" she whispered, her eyes reflecting the stars bright gleam. It suddenly awakened a memory, a precious and fragile memory that Rose was grasping so fast on.

_My pops used to tell me that every time you saw one it was a soul going to heaven._

Jack's voice echoed in Rose's mind. She closed her eyes just to concentrate on his lovely voice.

…_a soul going to heaven…_

"Jack?" she whispered, immediately opening her eyes. The shooting star was still flying through the sky. Jack's star.

Jack's soul…

Rose's heart immediately froze. Jack's soul was going to heaven, he was going to leave her for the rest of her life. A tremor of fear shot down her spine as she threw her blanket aside and shot from her seat.

"Jack, wait, come back!" Rose screamed, scampering towards the star. "Jack, come back, don't leave me!"

Tears gushed from her eyes as Rose chased the shooting star as fast as her numb legs could carry her. The star kept on flying with accelerating speed, not even hesitating or pausing for her. She felt as if she were in a terrible nightmare and a wonderful dream. She started to laugh and cry at the same time, though she didn't know why. This could be the chance to be with Jack again, she could live happily ever after with Jack if only she could just reach a little farther…and yet she felt as if her feet were taking her nowhere, in such a slow motion while the star escaped from her grasp. She could hear Jack laughing with her, though her sight blurred with tears. Rose stretched out her hand, feeling so, so close to catching Jack, reviving his soul back to life.

_Come, my sweet Rose, in my flying machine, going up you go…up, you go, balance yourself like a bird on a beam in the air, you go, there you go…_

Rose could hear Jack's melodic voice singing to her, with a hint of laughter in his song, as if telling her to jump onto his star and come to heaven with him. Rose breathed heavily, stumbling over her own feet and sprinting across the stretched deck, her hand still outstretched towards the star that was now fading in the distance.

Up, up, a little bit higher…

"I'm trying, Jack, I'm trying!" Rose sobbed, attempting to jump at every step. The shooting star's twinkle soon started to dim, its glittering sheen soon started to weaken. "No, Jack, don't leave me! Wait for me! Come back, don't go!" She lunged once more and crashed onto the wooden dock.

_Oh my, the moon is on fire! Come my sweet Rose to my flying machine going up, all on, good-bye!_

"No, Jack, don't leave!" Rose screamed as the shooting star soon delved into nothingness. "Don't say your good-byes, Jack, _don't say them_!"

Rose curled up into a ball and wept, yearning so much to climb onto Jack's star and follow him to heaven. She was already dead anyways, she just happened to still be breathing. She lost her chance. She could've caught the star and spend an eternity with Jack, but she lost it. Rose heaved for breath before breaking into fresh sobs, clutching the metal bars so tight her knuckles whitened She gazed at the sky, tears flowing down her face as she searched so naïvely for Jack to turn around and return for her. When no star came and even the ones unmoving started to disappear into the clouds, Rose closed her eyes. Her heart was aching so terribly it pained the entire body.

Rose rested her head on the cool bars of the ship, singing so softly that it was barely a thread of a whisper.

"Come, Josephine, in my flying machine and it's up, she goes, up she goes…"

Rose was shivering, even though she wasn't cold. She blearily lifted her head to the sky and sprawled on the ground, her eyes drinking in the vast night. She closed her eyes and sighed.

_You're flying, Jack_. _Teach me how to fly again.  
_


End file.
